Thumbs up, thumbs down: Paul Hazel causes havoc (twice) off the edge

Special to the Gazette / Erik HolladayWMU's Josh Price, right, stuffs Nicholls State quarterback LaQuintin Caston with help from teammate Paul Hazel Saturday.

The stat book shows the lanky sophomore defensive end tallied one sack in WMU’s 49-14 win Saturday over Nicholls State. He really had two, back-to-back, at the end of the first half. On the first, however, Hazel was flagged for a horse-collar tackle on Colonels quarterback LaQuintin Caston. So, on the very next play, Hazel ran Caston down again.

“The first call, I didn’t think it should have been called like that,” said Hazel, who also had a tackle-for-loss at Michigan State. “But it happened. So the second time was just like, ‘OK, I’m going to make up for it now and get it.’ So that’s what it did. ... I can run for days. I can run and that’s what I do best. So, if you want me to run, I can run.”

THUMBS DOWNWMU kicker John Potter’s love of tackling: It is fun to watch — a kicker flying in to make the tackle in an area kickers usually don’t stick their noses. It’s cool. And it’s dumb. The Broncos didn’t recruit Potter as a safety. They don’t need him as one. They need him to kick field goals and kickoffs and be healthy enough to do so. Potter, already the school’s all-time leader in tackles among kickers (by far), recorded two more on kickoffs Saturday. That’s on film now. At some point, an opponent is going to see that and use the opportunity to level the Broncos’ brave but perhaps foolish junior kicker.

THUMBS UPWMU safety Jamail Berry: For most of last week, the senior defensive rover wasn’t even supposed to play, limited by a thigh bruise suffered at Michigan State. Berry did play, sparingly, forcing an early-second quarter fumble, recovered by WMU.

THUMBS DOWNAkron and Ball State: Both Mid-American Conference schools lost at home Saturday to Division I-AA programs — the Zips 38-37 in overtime to Gardner-Webb and the Cardinals 27-23 to Liberty. In Ball State’s case, at least Liberty entered the game No. 18 in the FCS rankings.

THUMBS UPMatt Giraud: The Kalamazoo musician and former “American Idol” finalist sang the national anthem at Saturday’s game, minus a working microphone. Late in the final verse, the mic finally cut in, so Giraud twirled his hand over his head to signal, one more time, and then sang the anthem again, with volume, on an important anniversary in American history.